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Establishment and Application of Molecular Genetic Techniques for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (골형성부전증의 착상전 유전진단을 위한 분자유전학적 방법의 조건 확립과 적용)

  • Kim, Min-Jee;Lee, Hyoung-Song;Choi, Hye-Won;Lim, Chun-Kyu;Cho, Jae-Won;Kim, Jin-Young;Song, In-Ok;Kang, Inn-Soo
    • Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.99-110
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    • 2008
  • Objectives: Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has become an assisted reproductive technique for couples carrying genetic conditions that may affect their offspring. Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an autosomal dominant disorder of connective tissue characterized by bone fragility and low bone mass. At least 95% of cases are caused by dominant mutations in the COL1A1 or COL1A2. In this study, we report on our experience clinical outcomes with 5 PGD cycles for OI in two couples. Methods: Before clinical PGD, we assessed the amplification rate and allele drop-out (ADO) rate of alkaline lysis and nested PCR protocol using heterozygous patient's single lymphocytes in the pre-clinical diagnostic tests for OI. We performed 5 cycles of PGD for OI by nested PCR for the causative mutation loci, COL1A1 c.2452G>A and c.3226G>A, in case 1 and case 2, respectively. The PCR products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with HaeIII restriction enzyme in the case 1 and direct DNA sequencing. Results: We confirmed the causative mutation loci, COL1A1 c.2452G>A in case 1 and c.3226G>A in case 2. In the pre-clinical tests, the amplification rate was 94.2% and ADO rate was 22.5% in case 1, while 98.1% and 1.9% in case 2, respectively. In case 1, a total of 34 embryos were analyzed and 31 embryos (91.2%) were successfully diagnosed in 3 PGD cycles. Eight out of 19 embryos diagnosed as unaffected embryos were transferred in all 3 cycles, and in the third cycle, pregnancy was achieved and a healthy baby was delivered without any complications in July, 2005. In case 2, all 19 embryos (100.0%) were successfully diagnosed and 4 out of 11 unaffected embryos were transferred in 2 cycles. Pregnancy was achieved in the second cycle and the healthy baby was delivered in March, 2008. The causative locus was confirmed as a normal by amniocentesis and postnatal diagnosis. Conclusions: To our knowledge, these two cases are the first successful PGD for OI in Korea. Our experience provides a further demonstration that PGD is a reliable and effective clinical techniques and a useful option for many couples with a high risk of transmitting a genetic disease.

Policy Direction for The Farmland Sizing Suitable to Regional Trait (지역특성을 반영한 영농규모화사업의 발전방향-충남지역을 중심으로-)

  • Shim, Jae-Sung
    • The Journal of Natural Sciences
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.83-121
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    • 2004
  • This study was carried out to examine how solid the production foundation of rice in Chung-Nam Province is, and, if not, to probe alternative measures through the size of farms specializing in rice, of which direction would be a pivot of rice industry-oriented policy. The results obtained can be summarized as follows : 1. The amount of rice production in Chung-Nam Province is highest in Korea and the size of paddy field area is the second largest : This implying that the probability that rice production in Chung-Nam Province would be severely influenced by a global trend of market conditions. The number of farms specializing in rice becoming the core group of rice farming account for 7.7 percent of the total number of farm household in Korea. Average field area financial support which had been input to farm household by Government had a noticeable effect on the improvement of the policy of farm-size program. 2. Farm-size program in Chung-Nam Province established from 1980 to 2002 in creased the cultivation size of paddy field to 19,484 hectares, and this program enhanced the buying and selling of farmland and the number of farmland bargain reached 6,431 household and 16,517 hectares, respectively, in 1995-2002. Meanwhile, long-term letting and hiring of farmland appeared so active that the bargain acreage reached 6,970 hectares, and farm involved was 7,059 households, however, the farm-exchange-and-unity program did not satisfy our expectation, because the retirement farm operators reluctantly participated to sell their farms. Another reason that had delayed the bargain of farms rested on the general category of social complication attendant upon the exchange and unity operation for scattered farm. Such difficulties would work negative effects out to carry on the target of farm-size work in general. 3. The following measures were presented to propel the farm-size promotion program : a. Occupation shift project, followed by the social security program for retirement and elderly farm operators, should be promptly established and also a number of types of incentives for promoting the letting and hiring work and farm-exchange-and-unity program would also be set up. b. To establish the effective key system of rice production, all the farm operators should increase the unit area yield of rice and lower the production cost. To do so, a great deal of production teams of rice equipped with managerial techniques and capabilities need to be organized. And, also, there should be appropriate arrays of facilities including information system. This plan is desirable to be in line with a diversity of the structural implement of regional integration based on farm system building. c. To extend the size of farm and to improve farm management, we have to devise the enlargement of individual size of farm for maximized management and the utilization of farm-size grouping method. In conclusion, it can be said that the farm-size project in Chung-Nam Province which has continued since the 1980s was satisfactorily achieved. However, we still have a lot of problems to be solved to break down the barrier for attainment of the desirable farm-size operation work.. Farm-size project has fairly close relation with farm specialization in rice and, thus, the positive support for farm household including the integrated program for both retirement farmers and off-farm operators should be considered to pursue the progressive development of the farm-size program, which is key means to successful achievement of rice farming enforcement in Chung-Nam Province.

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The Effects of Silicate Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium Fertilizers on the Chemical Components of Rice Plants and on the Incidence of Blast Disease of Rice Caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cavara (규산 및 삼요소 시비수준이 도체내 성분함량과 도열병 발생에 미치는 영향)

  • Paik Soo Bong
    • Korean journal of applied entomology
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    • v.14 no.3 s.24
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    • pp.97-109
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    • 1975
  • In an attempt to develop an effective integrated system of controlling blast disease of rice caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cav., the possibility of minimizing the disease incidence by proper application of fertilizers has been investigated. Thus the effect of silicate, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers on the development of blast disease as well as the correlation between the rice varieties an4 strains of P. oryzae were studied. The experiments were made in 1971 and 1973 by artificial inoculation and under natural development of the blast disease on rice plants. The results obtained are summarized as follows. 1. Application of silicate fertilizer resulted in the increase of silicate as well as total sugar and potassium content but decrease of total nitrogen and phosphorus in tile leaf blades of rice plants. 2. The ratios of total C/total N. $ SiO_2/total$ N, and $K_2O/total$ N in leaf blades of rice plants increased by the application of silicate fertilizers. There was high level of negative correlation between the ratios mentioned above and the incidence of rice blast disease. 3. Application of silicate fertilizer reduced the incidence of rice blast disease. 4. The over dressing of nitrogen fertilizer resulted in the increase of total nitrogen and decrease of silicate and total sugar content in leaf blades, thus disposing the rice plants more susceptible to blast disease. 5. Over dressing of phosphorus fertilizer resulted in the increase of both total nitrogen and Phosphorus, and decrease of silicate content in the leaf blades inducing the rice plants to become more susceptible to blast disease. 6. Increased dressing of potash resulted in the increase of silicate content and $K_2O/total$ N ratio but decrease of total nitrogen content in leaf blades. When potassium content is low in the leaf blades of rice plants, the additional dressing of potash to rice plant contributed to the increase of resistance to blast disease. However, there was no significant correlation between additional potassium application and the resistance to blast disease when the potassium content is already high in the leaf blades. 7. When four rice varieties were artificially inoculated with three strains of P. oryzae, the incidence of blast disease was most severe on Pungok, least severe on Jinheung and moderate on Pungkwang and Paltal varieties. 8. Disease incidence was most severe on the second leaf from top and less sever on top and there leaf regardless of the fertilizer application when 5-6 leaf stage rice seedlings of four rice varieties were artificially inoculated with three strains of P. oryzae. 9. The pathogenicity of three strains of P. oryzae was in the order of $P_1,\;P_2,\;and\;P_3$ in their virulence when inoculated to Jinheung, Paltal, Pungkwang varieties but not with Pungok. The interaction between strains of P. oryzae and rice varieties was significant.

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The Effects of Evaluation Attributes of Cultural Tourism Festivals on Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention (문화관광축제 방문객의 평가속성 만족과 행동의도에 관한 연구 - 2006 광주김치대축제를 중심으로 -)

  • Kim, Jung-Hoon
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.55-73
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    • 2007
  • Festivals are an indispensable feature of cultural tourism(Formica & Uysal, 1998). Cultural tourism festivals are increasingly being used as instruments promoting tourism and boosting the regional economy. So much research related to festivals is undertaken from a variety of perspectives. Plans to revisit a particular festival have been viewed as an important research topic both in academia and the tourism industry. Therefore festivals have frequently been leveled as cultural events. Cultural tourism festivals have become a crucial component in constituting the attractiveness of tourism destinations(Prentice, 2001). As a result, a considerable number of tourist studies have been carried out in diverse cultural tourism festivals(Backman et al., 1995; Crompton & Mckay, 1997; Park, 1998; Clawson & Knetch, 1996). Much of previous literature empirically shows the close linkage between tourist satisfaction and behavioral intention in festivals. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of evaluation attributes of cultural tourism festivals on satisfaction and behavioral intention. accomplish the research objective, to find out evaluation items of cultural tourism festivals through the literature study an empirical study. Using a varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization, the research obtained four factors in the 18 evaluation attributes of cultural tourism festivals. Some empirical studies have examined the relationship between behavioral intention and actual behavior. To understand between tourist satisfaction and behavioral intention, this study suggests five hypotheses and hypothesized model. In this study, the analysis is based on primary data collected from visitors who participated in '2006 Gwangju Kimchi Festival'. In total, 700 self-administered questionnaires were distributed and 561 usable questionnaires were obtained. Respondents were presented with the 18 satisfactions item on a scale from 1(strongly disagree) to 7(strongly agree). Dimensionality and stability of the scale were evaluated by a factor analysis with varimax rotation. Four factors emerged with eigenvalues greater than 1, which explained 66.40% of the total variance and Cronbach' alpha raging from 0.876 to 0.774. And four factors named: advertisement and guides, programs, food and souvenirs, and convenient facilities. To test and estimate the hypothesized model, a two-step approach with an initial measurement model and a subsequent structural model for Structural Equation Modeling was used. The AMOS 4.0 analysis package was used to conduct the analysis. In estimating the model, the maximum likelihood procedure was used.In this study Chi-square test is used, which is the most common model goodness-of-fit test. In addition, considering the literature about the Structural Equation Modeling, this study used, besides Chi-square test, more model fit indexes to determine the tangibility of the suggested model: goodness-of-fit index(GFI) and root mean square error of approximation(RMSEA) as absolute fit indexes; normed-fit index(NFI) and non-normed-fit index(NNFI) as incremental fit indexes. The results of T-test and ANOVAs revealed significant differences(0.05 level), therefore H1(Tourist Satisfaction level should be different from Demographic traits) are supported. According to the multiple Regressions analysis and AMOS, H2(Tourist Satisfaction positively influences on revisit intention), H3(Tourist Satisfaction positively influences on word of mouth), H4(Evaluation Attributes of cultural tourism festivals influences on Tourist Satisfaction), and H5(Tourist Satisfaction positively influences on Behavioral Intention) are also supported. As the conclusion of this study are as following: First, there were differences in satisfaction levels in accordance with the demographic information of visitors. Not all visitors had the same degree of satisfaction with their cultural tourism festival experience. Therefore it is necessary to understand the satisfaction of tourists if the experiences that are provided are to meet their expectations. So, in making festival plans, the organizer should consider the demographic variables in explaining and segmenting visitors to cultural tourism festival. Second, satisfaction with attributes of evaluation cultural tourism festivals had a significant direct impact on visitors' intention to revisit such festivals and the word of mouth publicity they shared. The results indicated that visitor satisfaction is a significant antecedent of their intention to revisit such festivals. Festival organizers should strive to forge long-term relationships with the visitors. In addition, it is also necessary to understand how the intention to revisit a festival changes over time and identify the critical satisfaction factors. Third, it is confirmed that behavioral intention was enhanced by satisfaction. The strong link between satisfaction and behavioral intentions of visitors areensured by high quality advertisement and guides, programs, food and souvenirs, and convenient facilities. Thus, examining revisit intention from a time viewpoint may be of a great significance for both practical and theoretical reasons. Additionally, festival organizers should give special attention to visitor satisfaction, as satisfied visitors are more likely to return sooner. The findings of this research have several practical implications for the festivals managers. The promotion of cultural festivals should be based on the understanding of tourist satisfaction for the long- term success of tourism. And this study can help managers carry out this task in a more informed and strategic manner by examining the effects of demographic traits on the level of tourist satisfaction and the behavioral intention. In other words, differentiated marketing strategies should be stressed and executed by relevant parties. The limitations of this study are as follows; the results of this study cannot be generalized to other cultural tourism festivals because we have not explored the many different kinds of festivals. A future study should be a comparative analysis of other festivals of different visitor segments. Also, further efforts should be directed toward developing more comprehensive temporal models that can explain behavioral intentions of tourists.

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A Study on Corrosion according to Distance between Amalgam and Dissimilar Metals (아말감과 이종(異種)금속의 거리에 따른 부식에 대한 고찰)

  • Kim, Ju-won;Jeong, Eun-gyeong
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.4 no.3
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    • pp.103-109
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    • 2004
  • The present study prepared 72 test samples - 24 made of amalgam alloy, 24 of Verabond (Ni-Cr alloy) for crown and 24 of Talladium $^{TM}alloy$ for denture - according to the manufacturers' manuals and general method in consideration of the width of the mesial-distal dental crown of the lower $1^{st}$ molar and MOD cavity in clinics, put them in a 200 ml beaker containing 80 ml of artificial saliva, and measured their galvanic corrosion at distances of 0 mm, 7 mm and 40 mm after 7 days. Isolated metals in the electrolyte such as Cu, Ag, Ni, Cr, Sn, Zn and Hg were quantitatively analyzed with Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES, JY-50P, VG Elemental Co. France), and from the results were drawn conclusions as follows. First, Cu, Sn, Ag, Hg and Zn were highly advantageous when amalgam contacted gold alloy compared to Ni-Cr alloy for crown and Talladium alloy for denture. In addition, although gold alloy was finest in terms of oral tissue and biocompatibility, it was most disadvantageous when it was with amalgam. Second, when amalgam contacted gold alloy, heavy metals such as Ni and Cr were not isolated at all because gold alloy did not contain such elements but Sn was isolated as much as $227.1{\pm}18.0035{\mu}g/cm^2$ although it was not included in the composition either. Hg was also isolated. These elements are assumed to have been isolated from amalgam itself. Third, when amalgam alloy was apart from gold alloy 0 mm, 7 mm and 40 mm, Cu and Ag showed significance but Hg did not. This suggests that gold alloy must not be used together with amalgam, and must not be used between dissimilar prostheses regardless of distance. Fourth, when amalgam alloy contacted Ni-Cr alloy for crown, Ag was not isolated from the amalgam, but Zn, Ni, Sn, Hg and Cu were isolated in order of quantity. Significance was observed according to distance - 0 mm, 7 mm and 40 mm. Hg was not isolated but heavy metals Ni and Cr were isolated. If amalgam alloy was in the opposite arch or it was apart from Ni-Cr alloy for crown, the isolation Hg was less than that when amalgam alloy contacted Ni-Cr alloy for crown. Fifth, when amalgam alloy contacted Talladium alloy for denture, significance was observed at distances of 0mm, 7 mm and 40 mm. Hg was not isolated but heavy metals Ni and Cr were isolated. If amalgam alloy was in the opposite arch or it was apart from Talladium alloy for denture, the isolation Hg was less than that when amalgam alloy contacted Talladium alloy for denture. Sixth, according to the result of ICPES test on Cu, Sn, Ag, Hg, Zn, Ni and Cr of amalgam alloy, gold ally, Verabond and Talladium alloy when these alloys contacted artificial saliva, significance was observed in Cu and Hg. Seventh, when amalgam alloy contracted two non-precious metals Ni-Cr alloy for crown and Talladium alloy for denture in artificial saliva, significance was observed in the isolated by-products of Hg, Ni and Cr according to distance.

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A Study on Relationship between Degree of Stress and Dyspepsia, Sleeping, Satisfaction of Adult Women in Rural Area (성인 여성들의 스트레스와 소화불량 및 수면장애와의 관련성)

  • Kim, Yeong-Hee;Cho, Soo-Yeul;Kang, Pock-Soo;Lee, Kyeong-Soo;Kim, Seok-Beom;Kim, Sang-Kyu;Kang, Young-Ah;Hwang, Young-Lork
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.51-63
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    • 2000
  • Ten Dongs were selected according to the systematic cluster sampling in Koryong Gun, and the survey was conducted on 571 women in the age between 30-69 years. The first survey was performed for 6 days between August 27 to September 1, 1999 with the investigation rate of 60.3%, and the second survey was performed in November with the investigation rate of 91.8%. The contents of survey included demographic characteristics, health behaviors, dyspepsia symptom score, sleeping induction time and the degree of sleep satisfaction, and degree of stress in the subjects. The dyspepsia symptom score was in the average 13.4 points out of a total 44 points and was the highest in the 50-59 year-old age group with 13.9 points. The sleep induction time was in the average of 35 minutes and was the highest in the 50-59 year-old age group with 40.9 minutes; the degree of sleep satisfaction was in the average of 7.9 points and was the lowest in the 50-59 year-old age group with 7.5 points. The stress score was in the average of 18.3 points and was highest in those subjects in their 40's and 50's with 18.7 points. When the correlation among the stress score, the degree of sleep satisfaction and dyspepsia symptom score was analyzed, the results showed that he stress score and the degree of sleep satisfaction showed a significant negative correlation and that the stress score and dyspepsia symptom score showed a significant positive correlation. Also, a significant negative correlation was found between the degree of sleep satisfaction and dyspepsia symptom score. According to each age group, a significant correlation was revealed among the stress score, dyspepsia symptom score and the degree of sleep satisfaction in those subjects over 40 years of age compared to those subjects who were younger than 40 years of age. As for educational level, the correlation among the stress score, the degree of sleep satisfaction and dyspepsia symptom score was higher in those subjects with less than middle school education compared to those subjects with more than high school education. When those factors that effects on the dyspepsia symptom score were analyzed with multiple regression, the results showed that the level of stress and chronic diseases were selected as significant variables. When those factors that affected on the degree of sleep satisfaction were analyzed, the sleep induction time and presence of chronic diseases and stress were selected as significant variables. Those women in their 50's who live in rural areas showed the highest level of stress, lowest the degree of sleep satisfaction, and highest level of dyspepsia, indicating that they need stress management. Also, since stress was showed to be a significant variable effecting on dyspepsia or the degree of sleep satisfaction, it is concluded that health promotion is possible through stress management. More studies are needed in the future on coping resources that would strengthen coping against stress, and by conducting studies on stress and related factors on community people, the measures of mental health promotion need to be developed.

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Contact dermatitis among male workers exposed to metalworking fluids (금속가공유를 취급하는 남성 근로자의 접촉피부염)

  • Jin, Young-Woo;Lee, Jun-Young;Kim, Eun-A;Park, Seung-Hyun;Chai, Chang-Ho;Choi, Yong-Hyu;Kim, Kyoo-Sang
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.30 no.2 s.57
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    • pp.381-391
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    • 1997
  • In an epidemiological study of metal workers exposed to metalworking fluids (MWF), the prevalence time of Evolution, seasonal occurrence and clinical type of contact dermatitis were investigated. Compostional analysis of MWF with HPLC, dermatological examination and two consecutive questionnaire surveys were conducted. Study population was divided into two groups ; workers contact to cutting oil and workers contact to rust preventive oil. In the analysis of MWF, aliphatic hydrocarbons, having 12-20 carbons, was most common composition(49.04%) of cutting oil otherwise, major contents (90.99%) of the rust preventives oil were aliphatic hydrocarbons composed of 6-9 carbons. The frequency (point prevalence) of contact dermatitis(CD) was 7(12.7 per 100 subjects) in the dermatological examination of 55 workers. As the result of second survey for contact dermatitis, cumulative prevalence of oil working full-time and recent 1 year prevalence in two groups were 28.0, 16.7 and 15.1, 12.5 per 100 subjects. There were no difference in the prevalence of CD by oil, age, oil contact duration. Summer is the most common evolution season in workers exposed to cutting oil, but not in workers exposed to rust preventive oil. Major clinical type of CD was erythematous papules in both groups. It presents the importance of preventive measures that 51.1% suffer from contact dermatitis had medical care at their own expense, and 47.1% of them felt serious about their contact dermatitis. From the fact that 68.6% think cotton gloves protective apparatus, we emphasize the need for health education.

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Genetic Counseling in Korean Health Care System (한국 의료제도와 유전상담 서비스의 구축)

  • Kim, Hyon-J.
    • Journal of Genetic Medicine
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.89-99
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    • 2011
  • Over the years Korean health care system has improved in delivery of quality care to the general population for many areas of the health problems. The system is now being recognized in the world as the most cost effective one. It is covered by the uniform national health insurance policy for which most people in Korea are mandatory policy holders. Genetic counseling service, however, which is well recognized as an integral part of clinical genetics service deals with diagnosis and management of genetic condition as well as genetic information presentation and family support, is yet to be delivered in comprehensive way for the patients and families in need. Two major obstacles in providing genetic counseling service in korean health care system are identified; One is the lack of recognition for the need for genetic counseling service as necessary service by the national health insurance. Genetic counseling consumes a significant time in delivery and the current very low-fee schedule for physician service makes it very difficult to provide meaningful service. Second is the critical shortage of qualified professionals in the field of medical genetics and genetic counseling who can provide the service of genetic counseling in clinical setting. However, recognition and understanding of the fact that the scope and role of genetic counseling is expanding in post genomic era of personalized medicine for delivery of quality health care, will lead to the efforts to overcome obstacles in providing genetic counseling service in korean health care system. Only concerted efforts from health care policy makers of government on clinical genetics service and genetic counseling for establishing adequate reimbursement coverage and professional communities for developing educational program and certification process for professional genetic counselors, are necessary for the delivery of much needed clinical genetic counseling service in Korea.

Serial Changes of Serum Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone after Total Thyroidectomy or Withdrawal of Suppressive Thyroxine Therapy in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (분화성 갑상선 암 환자에서 갑상선 전절제술후 또는 갑상선 호르몬 억제 요법 중단에 따른 갑상선 자극호르몬의 변화)

  • Bae, Jin-Ho;Lee, Jae-Tae;Seo, Ji-Hyoung;Jeong, Shin-Young;Jung, Jin-Hyang;Park, Ho-Yong;Kim, Jung-Guk;Ahn, Byeong-Cheol;Sohn, Jin-Ho;Kim, Bo-Wan;Park, June-Sik;Lee, Kyu-Bo
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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    • v.38 no.6
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    • pp.516-521
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    • 2004
  • Background: Radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy and whole-body scanning are the fundamentals of treatment and follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. It is generally accepted that a Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) level of at least 30 ${\mu}U/ml$ is a prerequisite for the effective use of RAI, and that it requires 4-6 weeks of off-thyroxine to attain these levels. Because thyroxine withdrawal and the consequent hypothyroidism are often poorly tolerated, and occasionally might be hazardous, it is important to be certain that these assumptions are correct. We have measured serial changes in serum TSH after total thyroidectomy or withdrawl of thyroxine in patients with thyroid cancer. Subjects and Methods: Serum TSH levels were measured weekly after thyroidectomy in 10 patients (group A) and after the discontinuation of thyroxine in 12 patients (group B). Symptoms and signs of hypothyroidism were also evaluated weekly by modified Billewicz diagnostic index. Results: By the second week, 78% of group A patients and 17% of group B patients had serum TSH levels ${\geq}30{\mu}U/ml$. By the third week, 89% of group A patients and 90% of group B patients had serum TSH levels ${\geq}30{\mu}U/ml$. By the fourth week, all patients in two groups achieved target TSH levels and there were no overt hypothyroidism. Conclusion: in all patients, serum TSH elevated to the target concentration (${\geq}30{\mu}U/ml$) within 4 weeks without significant manifestation of hypothyroidism. The schedule of RAI administration could be adjusted to fit the needs and circumstances of individual patients with a shorter preparation period than the conventional.

Pareto Ratio and Inequality Level of Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Knowledge Collaboration: Analysis of Behaviors on Wikipedia (지식 공유의 파레토 비율 및 불평등 정도와 가상 지식 협업: 위키피디아 행위 데이터 분석)

  • Park, Hyun-Jung;Shin, Kyung-Shik
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.19-43
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    • 2014
  • The Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes for many events including natural phenomena. It has been recognized as a golden rule in business with a wide application of such discovery like 20 percent of customers resulting in 80 percent of total sales. On the other hand, the Long Tail theory, pointing out that "the trivial many" produces more value than "the vital few," has gained popularity in recent times with a tremendous reduction of distribution and inventory costs through the development of ICT(Information and Communication Technology). This study started with a view to illuminating how these two primary business paradigms-Pareto principle and Long Tail theory-relates to the success of virtual knowledge collaboration. The importance of virtual knowledge collaboration is soaring in this era of globalization and virtualization transcending geographical and temporal constraints. Many previous studies on knowledge sharing have focused on the factors to affect knowledge sharing, seeking to boost individual knowledge sharing and resolve the social dilemma caused from the fact that rational individuals are likely to rather consume than contribute knowledge. Knowledge collaboration can be defined as the creation of knowledge by not only sharing knowledge, but also by transforming and integrating such knowledge. In this perspective of knowledge collaboration, the relative distribution of knowledge sharing among participants can count as much as the absolute amounts of individual knowledge sharing. In particular, whether the more contribution of the upper 20 percent of participants in knowledge sharing will enhance the efficiency of overall knowledge collaboration is an issue of interest. This study deals with the effect of this sort of knowledge sharing distribution on the efficiency of knowledge collaboration and is extended to reflect the work characteristics. All analyses were conducted based on actual data instead of self-reported questionnaire surveys. More specifically, we analyzed the collaborative behaviors of editors of 2,978 English Wikipedia featured articles, which are the best quality grade of articles in English Wikipedia. We adopted Pareto ratio, the ratio of the number of knowledge contribution of the upper 20 percent of participants to the total number of knowledge contribution made by the total participants of an article group, to examine the effect of Pareto principle. In addition, Gini coefficient, which represents the inequality of income among a group of people, was applied to reveal the effect of inequality of knowledge contribution. Hypotheses were set up based on the assumption that the higher ratio of knowledge contribution by more highly motivated participants will lead to the higher collaboration efficiency, but if the ratio gets too high, the collaboration efficiency will be exacerbated because overall informational diversity is threatened and knowledge contribution of less motivated participants is intimidated. Cox regression models were formulated for each of the focal variables-Pareto ratio and Gini coefficient-with seven control variables such as the number of editors involved in an article, the average time length between successive edits of an article, the number of sections a featured article has, etc. The dependent variable of the Cox models is the time spent from article initiation to promotion to the featured article level, indicating the efficiency of knowledge collaboration. To examine whether the effects of the focal variables vary depending on the characteristics of a group task, we classified 2,978 featured articles into two categories: Academic and Non-academic. Academic articles refer to at least one paper published at an SCI, SSCI, A&HCI, or SCIE journal. We assumed that academic articles are more complex, entail more information processing and problem solving, and thus require more skill variety and expertise. The analysis results indicate the followings; First, Pareto ratio and inequality of knowledge sharing relates in a curvilinear fashion to the collaboration efficiency in an online community, promoting it to an optimal point and undermining it thereafter. Second, the curvilinear effect of Pareto ratio and inequality of knowledge sharing on the collaboration efficiency is more sensitive with a more academic task in an online community.